U.S. Drafting Sanctions As Iran Pursues Nuclear Fuel

Posted on Aug 31, 2006

The U.S. and three European allies may seek a range of sanctions against Iran including travel restrictions on Iranian leaders and limitations on access to global financial markets. However, according to the NYT, a recent report might hamper the sanctions effort. The report by the IAEA says Iran is making slow progress and has not increased its rate of production of enriched uranium, and that the purity of the uranium would only be useful for power plants, not weapons.

NYT:
U.S. Drafting Sanctions as Iran Is Defiant
By HELENE COOPER and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 ? With Iran defying today?s deadline to halt production of nuclear fuel, the United States and three European allies are assembling a list of sanctions they would seek in the United Nations Security Council, beginning with restrictions on imports of nuclear-related equipment and material.

Iran?s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared today that ?the Iranian nation will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights.??

His words echoed weeks of defiant pronouncements coming out of Tehran, and American and European diplomats have been preparing their sanctions proposals on the assumption that Iran would not comply with a Security Council demand that it stop nuclear enrichment work by today.